I Wanna Be Your Dog Days Of Summer No More - Amadeus Biere Blanche

It's pretty sad when you can tell summer is winding down because the highs are in the low 100's instead of hovering around 110.  What isn't sad is when you start to smell and feel that very subtle hint of fall in the air. With dreams of long bike rides and low electric bills dancing in my head, I'm here to tell you, I'm loving that feeling more than usual this year. 

Since my palate, to some extent, seems to change along with the seasons (this is not to say I can not, and do not many times enjoy a Hefe in December or a Impy Stout in August), and maybe because I'm just really looking forward to fall more than usual, I'm going to review one final summer beer as a somewhat premature goodbye to a season that I usually love (but this year simply tolerated), and begin to prepare my taste buds for the heftier outings.

On to the beer at hand.  For me the Amadeus Biere Blanche is a perpetual passover beer; not in the religious sense, but in the sense that I always see it on the shelf, but seem to walk by and never really give it a second thought.  I do suppose that there is a certain spirituality to beer choosing, and if so, then this one is definitely not the prodigal son as far as appearances go.

I'm not completely for sure why I've never purchased this beer.  Perhaps it's because it is a French beer, and I've never been overly stoked on French beer.  Maybe it's because the movie Amadeus annoyed the absolute hell out of me (there's no way Mozart was that fucking obstreperous), but who knows?  What I do know is that the French can make good wine, write good books and race bikes like nobodies business, but as far as good beer goes, they definitely have some catching up to do.  Let's see if this one helps them down that path.

A pale yellow-orange pour puts out a boisterous white head that diminishes slowly, and ultimately ending in a thick, cumulus cloud-like covering.  A few wide swathes of lace linger around the glass. 

Smells lemony and malty with a nice sweet bread backbone along with some clove and candied sugar floating around.  Very complex.  Let's hope the palate experiences the same.  Tastes grainy with a squirt of lemon and not much spice.  Tanginess is just right.

Body is weaker and drier than I was hoping for, especially considering the depth of the bouquet.  Subsequent pulls do however open things up and reveal a bit of welcomed spice and a lemon cookie yeast.

This one is off the charts easy drinking, although the body and taste suffer a bit secondarily.  Overall there is nothing to be ashamed of with this brew, and it serves as a fine bookend to a summer full of great lighter-bodied beers.